Thursday, June 05, 2008

Now, where did we get to?

We have been doing things here – so many things it’s hard to remember what they all are.Let’s see...

Pearlie and I had a good time on Friday at Critical Mass.It was a bigger turnout this month, being a lovely evening, and we ended up taking control of quite a big, fast one-way system in the north of the town. Unfortunately, some car drivers didn’t have the patience to wait until we moved on, and started being very pushy.One driver actually bumped a cyclist’s leg (she was angry but unhurt), causing everyone to stop in front of his car – so that didn’t get him where he was going any faster!

Before that little unpleasantness, it had been a lovely ride.I particularly enjoyed the bit where we had opened up a really wide, clear space on the main seafront road, which attracted a talented skateboarder, who swept back and forth in front of us, clearly relishing the unexpected expanse of road.Pearlie enjoys Critical Mass a lot, and is determined to attend when she can.I think she likes the safety of being surrounded by other cyclists, and the power of claiming our space on the city’s roads, even for a short time.

Keeping with the activist theme of the weekend, cousin S and her dad joined me and the kids at a demo outside an illegal Starbucks on the Saturday.We met up again with cousins S and D and their dad on the Sunday at the Big Knit In, where I rattled off a quick square for Oxfam, while all the others gradually drifted off to the Pavilion Gardens to eat ice lollies and listen to a brass band instead.

Later in the week, Allie’s mum finally had her cataract operation, which seems to have been successful.She is recovering well, despite having to have painful eye drops four times a day.

Most of the regular groups have started up again this week, following a half-term break.Pearlie has dropped one of her Kids Club sessions, so she’s now there once a week and Leo twice.Yesterday’s session included a performance of a play devised by the kids, about pirates being shipwrecked by a shark and finding treasure.I missed it but Allie and Pearlie were there to applaud, and by all accounts it was a triumph!

While he was at Kids Club this morning, Pearlie and I shopped in town for enticing prizes for the games at the Kids Club Summer Fair this coming Saturday, before squeezing in a quick look at some of the art on display at the University of Brighton degree show.If you’re local, please do come along to the Fair – it should be fun.